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Vikings Rumors Gain Steam on Aaron Rodgers, the New QB Direction, Jimmy Garoppolo
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- Vikings Rumors Gain Steam on Aaron Rodgers, the New QB Direction, Jimmy Garoppolo
Dale Zanine
The Vikings ' second offseason week is winding down after a year-end press conference and another round of league interest in Minnesota's coaching staff . As expected, the discourse has gravitated toward the quarterback.
Aaron Rodgers is the headliner, Jimmy Garoppolo is the safe choice, and Minnesota 's own leaders keep calling the QB room wide open.
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With that backdrop set, the next wave of Vikings rumors is out. You can read the first weekend edition here .
Why Rodgers and Garoppolo Keep Hovering Over the Vikings' 2026 QB Plan
The Purple Rumor Mill rides one more time before Week 3 of the offseason.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers steps into a throw during the first half of an international matchup at Croke Park on Sep 28, 2025, as Minnesota Vikings defenders close from the edges. The overseas setting added novelty, while Rodgers tested coverage with downfield attempts amid shifting momentum and early-game adjustments. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images.
Rumor: The Star Tribune thinks Aaron Rodgers should be "the guy" for the Vikings in 2026.
Like clockwork, Aaron Rodgers has found his way back into Minnesota's offseason conversation.
This time, the spark came from Star Tribune columnist Michael Rand, who raised the obvious question Monday : "We need to start with an obvious question: If Rodgers, who is a free agent, eventually decides he wants to play another year would it make sense for the Vikings to be in the mix? We know that he was interested in playing for Minnesota in 2025 but that the Vikings opted to put their full trust in J.J. McCarthy ."
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"In hindsight, that might have seemed wise for the Vikings to sign Rodgers to play in 2025. But they also knew they needed more information on and reps for McCarthy. Plus they were coming off a 14-3 season. At this point in his career, Rodgers is not playing like an elite QB who would take a team to the Super Bowl."
Rodgers wasn't dominant in 2025, finishing as the league's 20th-ranked quarterback by EPA+CPOE .
"He probably wasn't the right fit for 2025, even if he might have lifted the Vikings into the playoffs. To me, though, it might make more sense in 2026," Rand continued.
"While it feels more likely that the Vikings would bolster their QB room with someone who could compete with McCarthy for the starting job and not displace him for a year, the Vikings could also decide that McCarthy is young and raw enough that he needs a full year of refinement behind the scenes."
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It's unclear whether Rodgers would accept a QB2 label in Minnesota, and any signing would come with months of suspense about him taking the job. Even without elite production, Rodgers' presence would dominate the offseason conversation the moment his name landed on the depth chart.
Rumor: The Vikings' leaders openly predicted and endorsed a quarterback competition this summer.
The question was straightforward — it was asked to each man separately — and the opening was there. Is J.J. McCarthy the Vikings' QB1 in 2026? Both Kevin O'Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah were asked. Neither closed the door. Neither opened it, either.
O'Connell answered first, and the message was unmistakable. He explained , "I think there has to be competition. That's what's going to make everybody better in that room. It's going to be what makes our entire offense thrive through that competition. That should be how our entire organization looks at their individual roles when we compete against each other in the different aspects of the offseason."
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"I ultimately think that's what will prepare not only the starter but the next guy and the next guy, and we've learned we've got to get a lot of guys ready to play. And we've got to do it with a responsibility of being the best version of our offense."
And when Adofo-Mensah was asked the same question — whether McCarthy would open September as the starter — he bypassed the label and talked about his team's offseason goals.
Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy releases a pass during second-quarter preseason action on Aug 10, 2024, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis against the Las Vegas Raiders. The rookie worked through progressions with calm footwork, offering a snapshot of his developing timing as the home crowd tracked every rep. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports.
"I want the Vikings to achieve our goals. And I think one of those goals is to make playoff runs. I think he has the character and ability to be the person to do that. If I say that in 2026, that kind of binds us into a certain area."
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"The way we've set this team up, we built this core like we've always talked about, to give ourselves multiple shots at it, because you never know when there's going to be a year where the field feels a little bit wide open, and you can make that run," Adofo-Mensah told reporters.
These are the answers that general managers and head coaches use when the current QB1 is scheduled to lose his job, or at the very least, compete for it.
Rumor: Jimmy Garoppolo is another name to watch if Minnesota wants a seasoned veteran.
Star Tribune' s Jim Souhan ran the full circuit on Minnesota's offseason quarterback possibilities — Kirk Cousins , Joe Burrow , Mac Jones — and then veered somewhere less splashy. He landed on Garoppolo.
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He laid out the case : "I think there is a sleeper candidate who is being overlooked. He has not only played in a Super Bowl, he had a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter before Patrick Mahomes took over the game. He has played in two NFC title games. His postseason record is 4-2. His career completion percentage is 67.4, better than Cousins' 66.7 or Jones' 66.5."
"He has learned under two of the best offensive coaches in football in Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay. Because he plays for McVay, he is familiar with the offense run by Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell. This player has a far better résumé than Daniel Jones , Cousins or Sam Darnold did before those players arrived in Minnesota. Who am I talking about? You've probably guessed by now: Jimmy Garoppolo."
Garoppolo has spent the past two seasons with the Rams , where O'Connell once coached, and the Shanahan–McVay–O'Connell tree has a long history of circulating quarterbacks among themselves.
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins chats with San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo following a matchup at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sep 9, 2018, as postgame routines unfolded. The brief exchange captured two signal-callers crossing paths after a physical contest, reflecting league familiarity forged through shared systems and seasons. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports.
Souhan continued. "The name might not excite you. I would encourage you to compare his résumé with every other attainable quarterback on the market. Now, if Joe Burrow demands a trade from Cincinnati , he would become the subject of a bidding war, and the Vikings would probably at least try to acquire him. Garoppolo is on a one-year deal with the Rams."
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"Unless Matthew Stafford retires and the Rams are willing to hand the job to Garoppolo, he will likely be looking for a place where he can make one more run as a starter. With McCarthy and Garoppolo, the Vikings would have a talented youngster and an accomplished veteran in the room, with Brosmer as their developmental quarterback."
Garoppolo, indeed, will be an option for the Vikings if the team merely wants a seasoned veteran to support McCarthy, not compete for his job.
